Today, the Department of Homeland Security announced that more than 400,000 people were deported in the Fiscal Year that ended September 30, 2012. The exact figure was 409,849 individuals . The following is a statement by Congressman Gutierrez (D-IL), the Chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

“This is nothing to be proud of. In the 409,849 deportations are hardened criminals for whom I have no sympathy, but we must also realize that among these hundreds of thousands of deportations are parents and bread-winners and heads of American families that are assets to American communities and have committed no crimes.

“We must decide whether we want massive deportation to continue to be the policy of our nation or whether we want to take a smarter approach. I think we should recognize that families and individuals with deep ties to the U.S. live here and work here and yet have no way to get legal. We are deporting roughly 90,000 parents of U.S. citizens each year and often placing their children in foster care at taxpayer expense.

“Solving this problem in a humane and sensible way requires Congress to act on immigration reform and do what we have been unable to do for 25 or 30 years. In the mean time, as we have seen with the deportation relief afforded to DREAM Act eligible youth, there are things the President and immigration authorities can do to examine individual cases and provide relief from deportation where it is appropriate.”

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